Meaning & use
soda water
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
Water made fizzy with carbon dioxide, usually unsweetened and used on its own or to dilute other drinks.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: a glass of soda water, but two soda waters when ordering.
Patterns
- a splash of soda water
- whisky and soda water
I'll have a lime and soda water, please.
She added a splash of soda water to the fruit juice.
Soda water poured on a fresh stain can help lift it from fabric.
Word forms
| plural | soda waters |
|---|
Common combinations
- splash of soda water
- A splash of soda water makes the wine lighter.
- gin and soda water
- He ordered a gin and soda water with ice.
- top up with soda water
- Fill the glass halfway and top up with soda water.
- chilled soda water
- A tall glass of chilled soda water was all she wanted after the run.
- soda water stain remover
- Many people swear by soda water as a quick stain remover.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sparkling water
- Sparkling water can be naturally fizzy or have added minerals, while soda water is made fizzy artificially and often contains a little added salt.
- club soda
- Club soda is the usual American name for the same drink, so it is the natural choice in US contexts.
- seltzer
- Seltzer is also plain fizzy water but is mostly an American word and tends to have no added minerals.
- fizzy water
- Fizzy water is the casual British phrase and is less precise than soda water about how the bubbles were added.
Opposites
Word family
- soda noun
- a fizzy drink, or short for soda water
- soda siphon noun
- a bottle that squirts fizzy water
- carbonated adjective
- containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas
Commonly confused: soda water or tonic water? soda water or baking soda?
soda water vs tonic water
Tonic water is fizzy and bitter-sweet from quinine, while soda water has almost no taste of its own.
soda water vs baking soda
Baking soda is a white powder used in cooking, not a drink.
Practice
You want a fizzy drink with no sugar and almost no flavor to mix with whisky. You ask for ...
Choose one answer.
Soda water is plain fizzy water with little flavor. Tonic water tastes bitter and sweet, and cola and lemonade are sweetened.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “soda water”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.